We’d never heard of Istria — the triangular shaped portion of Croatia that’s closest to Italy.

Then, we’d never heard of the villages — Motovun, Vodnjan, and Rovinj.

Making these acquaintances was a delicious delight.

Konoba Mondo in Motovun

Our first destination in Istria was in Motovun. The map said that all roads lead to Motovun, a lovely walled village on top of a mountain.

Jan made a 1:00 reservation for lunch at this konoba (tavern) in Motovun. According to Google Maps, we had plenty of time to get there before they closed mid-afternoon. We were surprised to see a DETOUR sign in Croatian when we tried to turn into the road to Motovun.

We went ahead anyway but were stopped by a huge pile of gravel completely covering the road. So we reluctantly turned around, and instead of taking the direct route, we took a 45-minute detour that allowed us to access the walled city from a completely different direction.

The hassle was worth it. This first (and best) meal on this foodie quest was at this charming, unassuming restaurant nestled in a quaint corner of this hilltop town. Sadly, our friend had learned about this restaurant from an Anthony Bourdain (RIP) TV episode. Also, the NY Times called Konoba Mondo “what eating in the Old World should feel like”.

The fresh tagliatelle with black truffles was amazing  Never before had we seen such huge truffle shavings. We learned that many “Italian” truffles originate in this area of Istria.

Not to be outdone, the homemade ravioli with black truffles was also delicious. Who knew that you could make celery ravioli?

After lunch we learned that Mario Andretti is from this town; Italy claims him as well, as the town used to be called Montona, Italy.

Truffles are a big deal in this area. On our next trip, we want to join some truffle-sniffing dogs and see how they find the truffles buried deep in the forest. Now, we’ll just have to be content with enjoying the fruits of their labor. We didn’t buy this t-shirt but thought it was cute.

Vodnjanka in Vodnjan

If you blinked, you would miss Vodnjanka, a gourmet paradise on the side of the road in the tiny town of Vodnjan. 

 

Here, they raise their own pigs for prosciutto. As they lovingly raise only two or three pigs per year, the prosciutto was excellent–very lean and tasty, and unlike any other prosciutto we had on the trip.

We also enjoyed the black truffle ravioli and gnocchi at this restaurant and were delighted with the just-out-of-the-oven chocolate cake which was the best ever.

Rovinj

We enjoyed our three nights in Rovinj, a delightful coastal town in Istria. It was once an island.

The octopus salad was tasty.

At Baldi trattoria, we said our farewell to Istrian cuisine by savoring this incredibly fresh calamari.

The delicious Croatian wines complemented the wonderful food.

We Highly Recommend Istria!

Now that you’ve heard of these areas, we recommend them for your bucket list. Your taste buds and stomach will thank you!  Next stop:  Slovenia